The Art of Vacuum Tubes: Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate Triodes and Aqua 274B Rectifier feature article for Positive Feedback is now live HERE.
Sophia Electric mesh plate 45 directly heated triode vacuum tube.
It has been a lot of fun revisiting 45 SET amplifiers, as it has been a couple of decades since Gordon Rankin built me a pair of 45 SET monaural amplifiers for powering my Avantgarde Duo loudspeakers way back when.
Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier.
The combination of Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate directly heated triodes and Aqua 274B rectifier in the Triode Lab 45 EVO integrated SET amplifier really impressed me with the level of performance I was hearing through my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers.
Richard Wugang said, "For the very modest power output, the 45 would have been forgotten. However, one outstanding strength has made audiophiles rediscover it decades later. The sound from the 45 triode tube is simply pure, seductive, and even magical! Anything good that can be said about 300B tube, well, the 45 can do better, with only one limitation of its 2W output, versus 3.5-4W from the 2A3, and 8W from a single-ended 300B… If you have speakers efficient enough to utilize 2W of power output, then you can forget about any other fancy tube … ."
Westminsters powered by the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier.
Richard is right on, 45 triodes can be extremely impressive, as I found out with the Triode Lab 45 EVO integrated SET amplifier powering my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers.
Triode Lab 45 EVO integrated SET amplifier.
The Triode Lab 45 EVO integrated SET amplifier provided the best combination of audiophile-style sound quality and musicality I've ever heard from my Westminsters when listening to audiophile-style record albums.
I'm working on writing up my feature article about the Triode Lab 45 EVO integrated SET amplifier for Positive Feedback now, so keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks.
More 45 triode goodness to come!
Audio Note (UK) Io I moving coil phonograph cartridge.
After the Triode Lab 45 EVO article, the next article in my queue is about the Audio Note (UK) Io I moving-coil phonograph cartridge, the Audio Note (UK) AN-S4 step-up transformer (SUT), and the Audio Note (UK) AN-V silver interconnects, which are all designed to work synergistically together.
Audio Note (UK) AN-S4 step-up transformer (SUT).
Audio Note (UK) AN-V silver interconnects.
At the same time I write about Audio Note (UK) Io I moving-coil phonograph cartridge, the Audio Note (UK) AN-S4 step-up transformer (SUT), and the Audio Note (UK) AN-V silver interconnects, I'll also be including the Audio Note (UK) AN-SPe silver loudspeaker cables for that full Audio Note (UK) experience.
Audio Note (UK) AN-SPe silver loudspeaker cables.
In my article about the Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate triode and Aqua 274B rectifier the Audio Note (UK) Io I moving-coil phonograph cartridge and Audio Note (UK) AN-S4 step-up transformer (SUT) combination really wowed me through the Leben RS-30EQ phono stage while playing LPs on my CTC Garrard 301 turntable.
The Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono Signature integrated amplifier.
Did I mention that the Leben RS-30EQ phono stage shares a similar concept in design to the phono stage in the Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono Signature integrated amplifier?
It does, making the Audio Note (UK) and Leben combination a very nice match. Leben owners looking for a moving-coil cartridge and SUT should take note.
Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier (left), Audio Note (UK) CD (back middle), Leben RS-30EQ (right center), and Audio Note (UK) AN-S4 step-up transformer (SUT) (right).
After that, the next component in my queue to write about is the First Watt F8 stereo amplifier.
The First Watt F8 stereo amplifier furthers the tradition of Nelson Pass' solid-state amplifiers striking deep into the heart of vacuum tube amplifier territory from a sound quality and musicality perspective.
The new First Watt F8 stereo amplifier. $4000 USD.
Nelson's First Watt designs - like the SIT-3 and now the F8 - continue to explore what can be done at the cutting-edge of performance with solid-state designs, and I'm very impressed with what I'm hearing.
The First Watt SIT-3 stereo amplifier by Nelson Pass.
I bought one of Roger Sadowsky's 'Jim Hall' model archtop jazz guitars (HERE) for my jazz guitar studies with David Gitlen.
David knew Jim Hall, studied with Jim on a couple of occasions, and attended a lot of Jim's concerts to further study Jim's techniques, and of course to enjoy Jim's jazz guitar virtuosity.
David had recommended Roger Sadowsky's 'Jim Hall' model archtop jazz guitar to me, and it really is a beautiful guitar.
Roger Sadowsky's 'Jim Hall' model archtop jazz guitar.
I'm still deep in beginning jazz guitar student mode, but I'm having a ball taking lessons from David, and learning how to play jazz guitar.
I've also been writing about our after-the-lesson jazz guitar listening sessions in the "Jazz Guitar Chronicles", where I've been sharing some great jazz guitar albums with you that David is sharing with me.
It's been really fun listening to albums with David, and he never ceases to amaze me with his insights into the guitarists' techniques, and being able to demonstrate them in real time on the guitar as we listen to the albums. What a treat!
More album recommendations to come soon!
Current system photo for the Triode Lab 45 EVO integrated SET amplifier article.
I decided that for the feature photo of Jeff's Place I'll be updating it for each feature review I'm working on for Positive Feedback to give you an idea of where things are going review-queue-wise (above).
At the moment my primary music system is composed of the Westminster loudspeakers with the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier, the Audio Note (UK) CD player, Leben RS-30EQ, the Audio Note (UK) AN-S4 step-up transformer (SUT) (right), and my usual CTC Garrard 301 turntable, fitted with the Audio Note (UK) Io I moving-coil phonograph cartridge.
Ok, that's it for now.
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
